posted on January 12, 2005 12:20:40 PM new
Let us analyze the new price increases:
Gallery
Gallery fees will be raised from $0.25 to $0.35 per listing. 40% Increase. We didn't use gallery anyway. Except for store items, which was $0.01.
Buy It Now
Buy It Now fees will no longer be charged at a flat rate, and will instead be determined based on the Buy It Now price. Fees will be charged as follows:
The increases are outrageous, so we will stop using BIN
10-Day Duration
The fee for 10-day duration listings will be raised from $0.20 to $0.40 per listing. 100% Increase
The increase on the 10-Day listing is to steep, so we will stop using the 10-Day Duration Option.
eBay Stores
The fee for the Basic eBay Store subscription will be raised from $9.95 to $15.95 per month. The subscription fee for Featured and Anchor Stores will be unchanged. That is a 60.3% Increase.
eBay Store Inventory format listing insertion fees will remain unchanged. No Change here. ($0.02 for listing and $0.01 for gallery, I think!)
The Final Value Fee for Store Inventory items will change as follows:
Closing Price
Old Price
$0.01 - $25
5.25% of the closing value
New Price
8% of the closing price that is a 53.4% Increase
Old Price
$25.01 - $1,000
5.25% of the initial $25, plus 2.75% of the remaining closing value balances.
New Price
8% of the initial $25, plus 5% of the remaining closing value balance ($25.01 - $1000) that is 53.4% increases on the initial $25.00 and 81.8% of the remaining closing value balance.
Old Price
Over $1,000
5.25% of the initial $25, plus 2.75% of the next $25.01 - $1000, plus 1.50% of the remaining closing values balance ($1,000.01 - closing value).
New Price
8% of the initial $25, plus 5% of the next $25.01 - $1000, plus 3% of the remaining closing value balance ($1,000.01 - closing value). That is a 53.4% Increase on the initial $25.00 and 81.8% of the next $25.01 - $1000, and 100% of the remaining closing value balance.
The closing fees at eBay Store are taking a steep increase, the advantage of listing on the eBay store seems to be gone. Especially since those items do not appear on the regular search!
Will consider seriously closing the eBay store and post those items on our own website.
Our analysis is from the point of view of a coin dealer, it may apply to other collectables as well. However, my experience is on coin sales and regional economics.
There is another silent free increase caused by the drop on the Sales Thru Rate. See AuctionBytes.com eBay Sell Through Snapshot for the Week
http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y05/m01/i10/s05
With the average Sell Thru Rate of 29%, that means that insertion fees are actually over triple. That means that on the average you must list an item 3.45 times before you receive a bid. Multiply that by your insertion fee, gallery option and whatever you use on eBay to get your actual fee you are paying to sell that item. http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?SIND
In addition there are the fees of your picture hosting service and the company you use to launch your auctions.
Over the past two or three months, we noticed that our eBay fees have over double while maintain the same volume of sales, That means over a 100% increase on eBay fees. It also means that we needed to list over twice the number of items in order to maintain the same volume of sales.
In the future we will cut down on the number of items listed and return to the old fee we used to pay, that is prior to the past two or three months.
We will be very selective on what we list on eBay, only listing these items that are rare, hard to find or they have a great demand for them, such as the Carson City Morgan Dollars at high grade or slabbed. We will stop listing common items and instead wholesale them to other dealers.
Since we mainly sale US coins, those have a definite wholesale value. Unlike many other collectibles, coins have a recognized wholesale liquid market (40-50% Krause for world coins, 5-15% back of CDN bid for US) for correctly graded material. Most other coin dealers will buy at these prices.
Most coin dealers I talked too, estimate their monthly eBay/PayPal/picture hosting/launching hosting has increased to 15-25% of monthly sales. That being said and with prices being realized at or below Grey Sheet Prices, I forecast that the number of coins listed on eBay will take a dramatic drop. We for one will probable lower our number of listing to one-third of present volumes.
Presently there is very little incentive for legitimate coin dealers to list on eBay. Their monthly net is currently below what they can dispose their inventory to other dealers. We expect that the only people listing coins on eBay would be collector wanting to liquidate their holding, however, they would also probable do better of by selling their holdings directly to a legitimate coin dealer.
We also estimate that the eBay fee increases will be cause negative revenue for eBay. A friend of my, a professor of economic said: Only eBay can defeat itself! I believe that eBay will accomplish that, with this series of new price increases. We will sell eBay stock short and profit from this price increases!
Good luck to all!
[ edited by usmarines on Jan 12, 2005 12:49 PM ]
posted on January 12, 2005 01:44:51 PM new
It's almost enough to make me want to retire my ebay cheerleader pom-poms!
Ebay stores will still work for me because they haven't touched the listing fees (yet) and as you can see, I have a whole bunch of listings. The increased store subscription is a pittance. The FVF stings..but in reality, if you sell $2,000 /month in your store , the additional 2.75% only amounts to another $55/month.
I won't list for 10 days anymore or use a gallery anywe
It all adds up though ... and I tend to agree with you, ebay's greed will be its own undoing!
**********************************
"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "...holy sh@#...what a ride!"
posted on January 12, 2005 01:50:29 PM new
It takes the same resources for ebay to host an item at one penny or at 25 dollars,which one would you rather host?
This is good news for sellers who have to compete with jokers listing item at one penny and charging 5 dollars for shipping,GOOD RIDDANCE !!!!!
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
posted on January 12, 2005 01:56:40 PM new
Actually SW, I forsee a totally different scenario!
I predict (and CARNAC-RALPHIE concurs) a HUGE upswing in INFLATED SHIPPING FEES due to folks trying to avoid these OBSCENELY OVER-INFLATED & UNJUSTIFIABLEY EXPENSIVE fees for simple SURVIVAL!
VISIT: Ralphie's Eclectic Garden of Earthly Delights & Swedish Marital Aids here: http://tinyurl.com/3rd5a
posted on January 12, 2005 02:12:46 PM new
I don't follow your logic Stopwhining -- doesn't seem to be anything in this fee increase to STOP those penny sellers ..and I agree with Tom - ebay seems to be encouraging Fee Avoidance with this increase in FVF!
**********************************
"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "...holy sh@#...what a ride!"
posted on January 12, 2005 02:15:38 PM new
It's a good analysis. I actually stopped using 10 day listings when they went to 20 cents, I can't believe they are doubling. I definitely expect to see a huge decrease in buy it now because you could end up paying a lot, and someone not buying the item! It was worth it for a nickel more per listing, but a quarter for the higher priced stuff?
The big concern for me is the ebay stores, because those rate increases are unbelievable high. I can't believe they went from 5.25% to 8.00% - Maybe they are counting on most of their sellers not being able to do math?
I'm not going to close down my ebay store, but this will definitely push me to try other options. There is nothing like an impending change to get you off your butt and into action. Ebay has already lost a bunch of my business by doing what they did to half.com - I have been a powerseller on half.com for quite a while now, and at the silver level! My half sales are now under $200 per month. That money isn't going to ebay either, I've diversified and it is going outside of ebay.
What I see happening is the next price increase will see a huge increase to the per item listing. 2 cents per 30 days is cheap, I see them raising that a lot. Any increase in the per item listing (as I have over 3000 items in my store) would be devastating. It's time to explore other options before I have no choice.
posted on January 12, 2005 02:23:42 PM new
Anyone know how much difference it makes--gallery pic vs. no gallery pic? More hits- less hits? I started using the Gallery pic thinking it would catch more attention. This is making things hard for part-timers--I don't make much anyway, let alone all this crap.
posted on January 12, 2005 02:45:55 PM new
usmarines: since i am darn near numbers-dumb, and you are impressively numbers-smart, can you tell me the average % increase of what an average ebay seller's bill is going to be each month? ... is it going to be close to doubling each month?
posted on January 12, 2005 02:55:12 PM new
I'm not usmarine or a number whiz but I just calculated the effect of the rate increase on my business: If I don't use gallery and 10 day listings ( I rarely use either), my ebay bill will increase 6.1%. I don't think there is such a thing as an "average" ebay seller though.
**********************************
"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "...holy sh@#...what a ride!"
posted on January 12, 2005 03:02:38 PM new
I will be paying about 35% more under the new fees. That really is shocking and unacceptable.
There is no way to determine an average seller, too many variables. To do a quick determination, to find out what you are paying now multiply your gross sales by 5.25%, and what you will pay by 8.00% - That difference in price will be what you will be paying ebay, plus $6 more a month for the store cost.
posted on January 12, 2005 03:05:37 PM new
There is no way to determine what the "average" cost will be any one seller. There are too many varibles to make an average. For instance, I do not use Gallery, but use 10 day selling days, I seldom use BIN, I do not have an eBay store, Do you see the problem of determing an "Average"? By the way I have Majors in Accounting & Economics & and I agree with usmarine. The use if "Jarhead" is not a bit flattering. Used only by ignorant Swabbies & Paratroopers in a derogatory way.
posted on January 12, 2005 03:24:02 PM new
Just to clarify - I took 2.75% FVF increase X my gross STORE SALES, added in the $6 for additional store subscription and divided by total average ebay bill to get the % of increase.
My ebay fees are heavy on the auction listing fee side and my store sales make up about 25-30% of my total sales - my other fees will not be affected by the rate increase because I don't use BINs, gallery or 10 day listings. OTher sellers will have different profiles - very hard to come up with an "average".
**********************************
"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "...holy sh@#...what a ride!"
posted on January 12, 2005 03:24:47 PM new
Haven't seen the email for these increases yet. When do they take effect?
I just got into the whole stores thing. $9.95 was a good gamble. $15.95 is more of a risk for me.
All the other increases are going to be a pain in the arse as well. I use gallery and BIN all the time. Was worth it before, but this unwarranted increase is going to force a rethink...
I may just rent a booth at a local flea market for $20 and stick stuff in there.
------ "Bend over backward for the customer. Don't bend forward."
posted on January 12, 2005 03:36:15 PM new
I think it is time every seller on ebay wrote in to ebay especially to MEG and voiced our serious objections to these new unacceptable price rises. especially in the light that all our sales are way down to what they should be. and the fact that ebay is not helping to get our sales up and healthy the way they used to be. i for one will be writing to meg shortly.
posted on January 12, 2005 03:38:17 PM new
I wrote her once: [email protected] and it didn't come back as undeliverable..so....maybe it got there??
**********************************
"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "...holy sh@#...what a ride!"
posted on January 12, 2005 03:43:13 PM new
If all sellers wrote to her, then she might get the message. as well as writing to any other ebay address that works. the more the merrier.
posted on January 12, 2005 03:47:51 PM new
Writing to Meg or a one day boycott or any of that silly stuff won't change a thing. The way to vote is with your wallets. I am not going to waste time complaining about a rate increase, what I am going to do is look for ways to deal with it - I hope part of that will be to work on sales venues outside of ebay. Other auction sites are bleak, but I've worked hard building up my ebay store and a lots of repeat customers, so I think people will follow me off ebay for some of my sales. I realize I won't be leaving ebay completely, but if they get $100 less a month from me, maybe they will get $100 less a month from 1000 others - That is a million a year. Maybe it will be more, who knows. My advice is instead of working on a one day boycott, work on a strategy that will rely less on ebay. I know that is the direction I am headed because the next fee increase won't see a FVF go up, but a per item listing fee go higher.
posted on January 12, 2005 04:07:01 PM new
I am afraid you're right about listing fee increases next Feb - I only wish I had the time to explore other venues!
I wish I had had the foresight to set up my store listings in such a way that they could easily be imported to a website! The way I see it, I am MARRIED to ebay AND to Vendio unless I want to start from scratch!!
**********************************
"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "...holy sh@#...what a ride!"
posted on January 12, 2005 04:16:01 PM new
I used to be married to half.com, but we got a divorce lol - Seriously, I predict that my 2005 sales on half will be 7% of what they were in 2003. Part of the reason I changed things around is because I thought they were going away. I'm not leaving ebay, but I think I will at least start to work on creating more sales outside of the ebay venue. Not sure how yet, guess I need to give it some thought. Selling on a website is one possible way, but I have to admit that the workload on ebay is really easy right now with turbolister, I can easily maintain a store inventory of thousands of different items. Putting them into a website with a shopping cart system, being able to invoice customers, etc. Maybe just too expensive to implement.
Heck, I've given thought to opening a B&M store, maybe that is the answer. Time to do more thinking.
posted on January 12, 2005 04:20:01 PM new
I have relied heavily on the gallery, but I will try not using it for a while, that will save some money. I don't know about the store, sometimes it doesn't even make the $10.00 to pay for itself. I liked it because of the sales reports, but I can go back to figuring out my own. I really need eBay income until I can start taking money out of my 401 in a couple of years. I was hoping not to have go out to look for a job at my age! Boy, sales are down, why not have a fee increase to make up for the loss of eBay's income? (spoken with a bit of bitterness).
posted on January 12, 2005 04:22:46 PM new
ebayvet. voting with your pocket is fine. but it needs a lot more then just that. it needs lots of complaints from all sellers as well. ebay needs to be inundated with millions of complaint emails. you are complaining about price rises. like the rest of us. i am prepared to do my bit to try to stop this ripoff. my way is to write or phone ebay and complain as much as possible. why dont you do the same.? and all other sellers too. i for 1 will stop using gallery photos as well.
any suggestion that will help to drive the message home to ebay is not silly stuff. so anyone with good ideas to drive the point home to ebay, let everyone know.
posted on January 12, 2005 05:18:18 PM new
Looks like I quit just in time. If anyone is paying attention to the rate increase, such as the little seller, they will bail! The poor sellers who think they are making a profit because they never figure out the year-end numbers is helping Ebay make a load of cash. Glad I'm outta here in a week.
Best to those who can afford to stay and make a little money. Wonder how ebay will look in a year. Bet the sellers will go down and maybe drive prices up. That would be nice but who knows.
posted on January 12, 2005 05:42:00 PM new
I was seriously considering opening an eBay store, but now will not.
Given the lack of page views on eBay, I think I might wander over to Amazon's zShops. They have a plan for $39.99/mo for UNLIMITED number of items, and closing fees are a lot lower than eBay.
[ edited by sthoemke on Jan 13, 2005 12:45 PM ]
posted on January 12, 2005 06:06:03 PM new
I wouldn't care that the fees were going up if the sell through rate remained at nearly 50%. I believe the report of 29% rate is very accurate. January has always been the best for me and it just isn't now. This is my 8th January. Its not good.
StopWhinings comment about losing sellers doesn't cut it. It still doesn't mean that buyers are going to buy from the remaniing sellers. The "if you have the right product it will sell mentality" is flawed if it takes 3 time or more to get it to sell. I have never had to list 3 times in the last 8 years but have been this past December. I
believe there are a lot of psychological factors on buyers right now.
One being personal debt.
